Gary Gildersleeve Comments on Muni Calendar; Tennessee Debt

June 3, 2010

Evercore Wealth Management partner and municipal manager Gary Gildersleeve told Bloomberg that issuers will benefit from the lighter calendar over the next month. Total schedule issuance is the lowest since early April.

Separately, Gilversleeve noted that the $575 million in bond sales by Nashville and Davidson County, Tennessee comes two weeks after news of a possible credit downgrade following the worst flood in 50 years.

In contrast to New York, California and New Jersey, Tennessee is not a high-tax state, Gildersleeve said. That means there is limited demand for its debt. Tennessee's individual income-tax rate was six percent as of February 1, compared with a top rate of 10.55 percent in California and 8.97 percent in New York and New Jersey.